Problem: Kevin bought a new pair of shorts at the store when they were having a $45\%$ off sale. If the regular price of the pair of shorts was $$42$, how much did Kevin pay with the discount?
Explanation: First, find the amount of the discount by multiplying the original price of the of the item by the discount. $$42$ $\times$ $45\%$ $=$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $45\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{45}{100}$ which is also equal to $45 \div 100$ $45 \div 100 = 0.45$ Multiply the discount you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of money saved. $0.45$ $\times$ $$42$ $ = $ $$18.90$ Subtract the discount you just found from the original price to get the final price Kevin paid. $$42$ $-$ $$18.90$ $ = $ $$23.10$ Kevin paid $$23.10$ for the pair of shorts.